A little colour, a length of thread and a handful of pure wool felt balls: sometimes the simplest projects are the loveliest. This garland is a relaxing hand-sewing project for adding a small, handmade detail to your Christmas tree or draped over a mantle, door, or shelf.
This tutorial uses 3cm wool felt balls and DMC Perle 3 cotton thread giving a fun and bold garland. While we're focusing on Christmas decorating, this project is perfect for celebrations and adding a touch of whimsy year round.
You'll need:
✂️ 3cm pure wool felt balls in your chosen colours
✂️ DMC Perle 3 cotton thread
✂️ A sharp needle with an eye large enough for your thread, but slim enough to pass through the balls. We've used these darning needles
✂️ Scissors
✂️ Tape measure or ruler
Method:
Lay out your felt balls before threading. Try a repeating colour sequence, a gentle mix of similar shades or a cheerful assortment of contrasting colours.
Cut thread the length you would like your finished garland plus an additional 60cm (approx). This allows for hanging loops plus small stitched created to ensure the balls don't slip out of place. We used approx 2.5m of thread.
Decide how far you want each ball spaced and ensure you have enough felt balls to fit the space.
Tie a small knot in the middle of length of thread - this will be where you thread on the first felt ball. When dealing with such a long piece of thread it can easily get tangled, so starting to thread your balls from the centre of the garland helps reduce this.
Thread your needle with one end of the thread. Push it through the centre of one felt ball and pull through so this ball becomes the centre of your garland.
Tip: if it is a little difficult to push the needle through your ball, try using a thimble, gently push needle against a hard surface or use a small pair of pliers to help pull needle through.
Once you are happy with the placement of your ball, secure it in place by making a small knot as shown in the photos below.
Create hanging loop by threading the thread back through the centre of the last ball.
Tie a knot close to the ball and trim end close to ball.
Complete second half of garland in same way.
Et voila!
